Summer 2020 Part 2

Stow City Park

October was our Fall Trip to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We stayed at Stow City Park.   The sprawling park itself had everything –a picturesque lake surrounded with brightly colored trees reflecting on the calm water, baseball and soccer fields, hiking/biking trails and a mammoth dog park that had it’s own lake!  The campground part was small and had no facilities other than electricity at each site but the bathhouse at the nearby baseball diamond was very clean and even had nice warm showers!  Of course face masks, hand sanitizer and wipes went with us wherever we went!   Cuyahoga Valley

Bike Trail

National Park has awesome bike and hiking trails that traverse woods, valleys and amble alongside a set of canals and locks from the old Erie Canal Days!

Tuesday was Senior Day at the nearby 64-room Stan Hywett Mansion in Akron and we were the first visitors there that cool yet bright morning!  In Old English, Stan Hywett means “Stone Quarry” and the 300 ft long Tudor Revival mansion is listed as the 6^th largest mansion in the US – behind the Biltmore!  History was everywhere as we strolled from room to ornate room!  Formal gardens and mammoth stone porches adorned the four sides of the 64,500 square foot “home” that was built for FA and Gertrude Seiberling in 1912.  Mr. Seiberling and his brother were the co founders of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron.  Originally the property engulfed 1000 acres including a quarry but has been slimmed down to 70 acres divided by bricked paths - lined and covered with delicate birch trees, kitchen gardens, flower beds, sunken gardens, a gate house, a greenhouse and a former stable, all of which were artfully decorated in fall attire of corn stalks, pumpkins and every color of mum imaginable.

From Akron we ventured even farther southeast, always on the lookout for more restored canals, locks and even covered bridges!  Fall colors abounded in the small but well kept Guilford Lake State Park.  We did find the canals, locks and even the covered bridge in Beaver Creek State Park after a morning of wandering back roads thru farm and forest!  We also found the Beaver Creek and the

Beaver Creek

vibrant colors of the trees that protected its jagged rocky banks.  A VERY tight corner/curve and a one lane VERY narrow bridge protected the visitor area from large RV’s and trailers and luckily, this time, we were not one of them!!

 On the move again, the “train” pulled out of Guilford Lake State Park and steadily moved west, this time thru the well kept Amish Countryside and the busy (in spite of the virus) tourist towns of Sugarcreek, Berlin, Millersburg and on to Loudonville.  Knowing that Mohican State Park there would be full, we headed up and around the corner to Perrysville and the Pleasant Hill Lake

Guilford Lake State Park

Campground.  While most of this huge park has been modernized, expanded and occupied by semi permanent campers, we chose the old section and away from the rest.   There were only a few well-spaced campers that moved in after us and we were on our way early the next morning.  It was time to head home where we knew it was safe.

Now, Christmas is here!  While our pretty little Christmas tree is still securely packed away under the bed in the trailer – this year, our home is adorned with decorations from my vast Christmas Collection that we haven’t seen in over 14 years!   Our Nativity Scene, which I purchased piece-by-piece when I was a teen, occupies the entire coffee table.  A 12-inch tree, from my working days at State Farm, is surrounded by H’s dollar store plastic train, from pre-marriage days, proudly sits on the kitchen table!

While this year, our holiday may not be as “Merry” as in year’s past, our wish is still for yours to be a blessing.   May you and your family stay safe, stay warm and stay well!  Till we can travel and be together again  - we are still  - H and B

Summer 2020 Part 1

 It’s December 17 ^th  – Christmas music is playing and I’m sitting at the kitchen table looking out the big window – at all the falling snow as it gently floats down outside.  YES – SNOW!  We should be in our favorite Salt Springs National Forest Campground in the Ocala Forest – but we’re not.  Instead we’re home, wearing long pants and sweatshirts and shoveling snow!  Our pretty little Christmas tree is packed away under the bed of the big “tan train” that is still sitting in the driveway.  Our home is decked out with a selection of Christmas items that we haven’t seen in 14 years – ever since we first began our winter adventures!   H made the decision just before Thanksgiving that we should stay home and stay safer since the “numbers” in Florida are way worse than they are up here in Ohio and Michigan!  He still gets restless but one day a week we take a road trip and sometimes never even get out of the car.  We do our grocery shopping online with pickup at the store.  Sunday Morning Church is Dr David Jeremiah on TV!

 

During the summer we slid the boat into a different pretty inland lake each week to see who would catch - the first, the biggest or the most fish!  Or the dice would roll and we would run the boat up the Maumee River, look for eagles and count all the freighters that were moored at the various coal or grain ports.  Google was always full of information on each vessel – her origin, where she was from and what she was hauling!

In July we chanced our first summer camping trip when H secured 5 nights at our favorite Petosega County Park and Campground up east of Petoskey. I’ve written about the park MANY times before, but this time was different – the new management will only allow 7 days camping and we could only procure 5 because it was fully booked for the weekends.  That infamous pipeline that runs from Canada, under the Straits of Mackinaw and south to Ohio had now been run thru the campground – taking out 13 campsites.  The pipeline was not allowed 500 feet near any campsite so the pipeline company agreed to build a new loop, restore 13 new campsites and add a new modern bathhouse.   Our site was rather secluded to begin with and the nearest neighbors were seniors and doing the “social distance” thing just like us!   We had to move out of the campground on Friday and had hoped to move to another county campground for the weekend.  That campground was nothing like our beloved Petosega!  It was way overcrowded and absolutely no social distancing - so we hurriedly moved on and headed farther south.  On the AuSable River, right near the Lumberman’s Monument is the peaceful and quiet Huron National Forest Campground.  No electricity and no water at any

National Forest Campground

 campsite however, the facilities were the cleanest outhouses we’ve needed to use in a long time.  During the night the storm hit!  We heard later that several trees in Petosega were uprooted and a big limb had fallen on the elderly 5^th Wheel that had taken our site.

 

August’s jaunt was revisiting yet another delightful State Forest Campground up on Tubb Lake near Big Rapids!  See Previous

Tubb Lake

Michigan Blog!  We had the Rockwood Trailer back then and the big picture window looked out over the beautiful little lake!   This time our even better campsite was at the end of the “cul-de-sac!   It was good sized, shaded, private and had it’s own little path to the waters edge to watch the delicate colors of the setting sun!  And the fishing wasn’t bad either.

Tubb Lake

H was really restless AGAIN in September and we headed north one more time!  Our first night was at the deserted Burt Lake State Park!  What few campers there were thoughtfully spaced out with several empty sites between each trailer.   As we attempted to begin our run for the Mighty Mac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula (the U P!!) – the truck would not start.  Thankfully H had brought his battery charger!  Our first stop was the nearest auto part store for a new battery.  With that problem solved we headed for the Woodland Park City Campground in Grand Marais Michigan, up on the jagged Lake Superior coastline.  The campground was crowded but we were only spending two nights there.  Our trusty bikes were unfolded and we headed off for town, which was just one block away!  Not much

had changed in the quaint tiny town but we still had to make sure the diner where we had gotten ice cream on our last, warmer visit was still there!  Our second day was spent out exploring the coastline, its myriad of waterfalls and having Pasties in Munising!

 

On this Lake Superior Circle Trip, our next stop was to be at another picturesque lakeside town – L’Anse, but we had to go thru Marquette first – dragging a 35 ft trailer!   Marquette is a college town whose busy campus takes up both sides of the main street in downtown!   Just north of town is Presque Isle Pointe Park and H decided we HAD to go see it because it sat high on the cliffs that overlooked the bay.  The views were breathtaking and the roads thru the park were too - because they were narrow and winding and there were no

parking lots that could handle the “train”!  We both held our breath for several of those tight turns!   Just east of Marquette, H found a tourist trap like no other and we HAD to stop there also!  Remember Solomon’s Castle we visited last winter down in Florida?  Lakenenland is another place that is built out of someone’s junk and turned into extremely unusual “sculptures”.      H failed to see the sign that “suggested” that no buses or trailers be taken thru the park and we had again held our breath on some of those tight, rutted roads that rambled thru the cluttered park.

 

We had one of the best sites in the pretty little L’Anse Township Park and Campground.  The park sits high on a bluff overlooking the Keweenaw Bay and it was our base for the next few days as we wandered up and back down the Keweenaw Peninsula and retraced our steps thru Fort Wilkins.  On our way up we detoured out onto an alternate route that took us up the coast on the west side of the

peninsula thru Eagle River and Eagle Harbor. Besides the small tourist town and the unique wooden bridge, Eagle River, named after the river, also sported a plethora of small waterfalls either along a narrow footpath or conveniently hidden in a deep crevice on the side of the road!  In Eagle Harbor, nestled in a natural harbor area we stopped to explore and H got out his drone and got several great pictures and videos.

 Up at the tip of the peninsula we found the very beginning of US RT 41, which finally ends up in Florida were it crosses the Everglades to Miami!

 

We spent one night at Indian Lake State Park before we headed back over the bridge to the Lower Peninsula and had one more night in Petosega – in the now opened loop!  That next morning started with a dusting of frost on the dainty little mushrooms, nestled in the still growing grasses between the campsites!   H still wasn’t ready to

head towards home so we meandered down along the Lake Michigan coastline from Petoskey, thru Traverse City and stopped for the day in Orchard Beach State Park near Manistee.  The park was almost full because it was Saturday but we selected one of the last 4 sites available – right on the end of a row with no one next to us!

Looking south over the Mighty Mac

Florida to Michigan

Hello, Dear Blog Friends – we are home – safe but very tired.  The trailer is in the driveway with its big brown nose pressed up against the garage door like an overgrown tan puppy, begging to get in.   It was a very rushed long drive home with only daytime stops for gas and 2 nighttime stops for sleep.  Now it’s time to slow down, breath and stay safe.

Cracker lake

Our one week stay at cozy Cracker Lake, evolved into two and then when the virus became more real and more folks were coming down with it, we stretched it to three!  Not wanting to take the chance on moving, H canceled our next move, which was going to be another RV park – a bigger RV park.                                       We rode up to Ruskin to see what the River Vista RV Resort was all about – it was indeed a beautiful RESORT, resting right on the banks of the Manatee River that runs thru Ruskin.  But – there were OVER 500 RV sites that were wall to wall.  NOT good unless you didn’t care about catching the virus.  It was a very wise choice to stay at Cracker Lake for that week number three!

We all know that H gets restless after staying 2 weeks in any one place so the 3^rd week was a push.  He did get the itch and we did take a ride to see the normally empty southern end of Coquina Beach.  Even with the instructions to “socially distance”, there were way too many people on that beach!  We distanced ourselves from the big bodies in not big enough suits, the gaggle of little kids running back and forth from the waters edge and the

teens - who didn’t care what was going on.   After all – it was THEIR spring break!  We walked to the much quieter and much less populated very end of the island where the bridge connects it to Longboat Key to the south.  The winds were light and our parking spot was away from everyone else’s so H got out his drone for a few gorgeous photos of the bay, the bridge and the vast expanse of the Gulf to the west.   That was to be the last of our days out exploring and enjoying our days of relaxation.  Stress was about to show it’s ugly head.

On Wednesday it was announced that Florida was shutting down all of it’s state and federal parks – that included our next two places to stay – Ross Prairie Greenway Campground in Ocala and Manatee Springs in Chiefland.  The shutdown was to go into effect on Friday at noon, but the park manager at Ross Prairie told H we would be allowed to stay Thursday night but had to be out on Friday.  When we pulled into the park that morning – the rule had changed and we were not going to be allowed to stay – no matter what H was told two days earlier.  We were only permitted to leave the tan train for a short time while we drove to my sisters home 3 miles away to pick up items she wanted to send home with us.  Without even entering her home we hurriedly packed the tote boxes in the back of the truck and without as much as a farewell hug, we returned to the trailer to hastily re-hook up and head for the highway and north to Georgia.

From Ocala to almost the Florida/Georgia border we dutifully stayed in our lane and let the other two lanes of northbound traffic whiz on past us on I75.  In Waycross Georgia, the Laura S Walker State Park was open and they did our registration over the phone

Clarks Hill 

from their driveway and even delivered our confirmation to us at the campsite after we were secure for the night.  Off again the next morning we continued our push for home.  As we crossed over the Savannah River via the Thurmond Lake Dam which bridges RT221 from Georgia to South Carolina we decided it was past time for breakfast so the Clark Hill Lake Rec Area proved to be a good spot with a great view of the lake and the dam beyond, for a great place to fix a delicious breakfast of grilled English muffin with fried egg and cheese!!  The propane stovetop in the trailer worked great to prepare our buttery treat!  For the rest of the day it was stopping only for gas until it was time to stop once more for the night.

Spring had come to Florida and Georgia – Bottlebrush, Dogwood, Azalea, and Magnolia were all in bloom.  In the Carolina’s Wisteria, Forsythia and Daffodils decorated the yards and

Bottlebrush

roadways!  By the time we got to Tennessee, clouds overshadowed everything. Then came the rain.  The deluge was finally letting up as we parked for the night in our less than favorite Warriors Path State Park on the outskirts of Kingsport.  Reservations were made while still on the road and our misspelled name was already on the campsite post when we pulled in.  Crooked and JUST barely off the narrow strip called a road - we didn’t care – we were parked.   In the morning, heavy fog smacked us in the face and slowed us to a crawl as we pushed north thru the mountains of Virginia.  Minimal northbound traffic thru Kentucky and even southern Ohio – until we hit I75 at Findlay, when it was bumper to bumper, 3 lanes of semi’s and now RV’s pushing in haste to get home to Michigan, Ontario and even Quebec.   We let them all pass!  Then we were home - - tired, but safe and with NO Covid 19 in our luggage!

We’ve been home a week. The snow has come like a thief in the night and is gone already.  Self-quarantine is still the mantra. 

We’re ordering our groceries online and H has ordered parts, received them, and repaired his truck!  Taxes are filed and census forms have been taken care of!  Next I need vegetable seeds for the garden.  It’s time to plant peas!

Zolfo Springs Fl.

We’ve never been to or thru Zolfo Springs in all the years we’ve been wandering Florida!  It’s a SMALL town at the intersection of North/South Rt 17 and East/West Rt 64. It has the Pioneer Restaurant on one corner, gas stations on 2 other corners, and a “historic” Pioneer Park and campground on the other.

  Just east is Cracker Lake 55+ RV Resort!  The “lake” is a pond – home to an equally tiny gator and a plethora of Spiny Softshell Turtles, which love to be fed – the turtles – not the gator – it is illegal to feed gators in Florida!  The park has several damaged trailers from a previous flood that are in the process of being removed, and several more empty sites where

other trailers have been taken out. The narrow roads thru it are dusty gravel but the grassy sites are green.  Our little road is called “Possum Trot”!  The “facilities” are clean. The laundry room is good!  The rec hall is busy several evenings a week.  H and I have even played bingo three times now and have not lost any money!  This little park was down but is slowly making a comeback!  The office manager is easy to chat

with and is SO accommodating!  Besides that – she’s from Lansing Michigan!  All the folks here are welcoming and very friendly, too – especially the ones from Wauseon and Defiance Ohio!!

Pioneer Park is a re-creation of

parts of an old Cracker (Cowboy) Village.  On our first weekend here was the annual Pioneer Park Days Engine Display and Show.  Rows and rows and rows of antique tractors, hundreds of “hit and miss” engines running various types of old equipment, washing machines and even ice cream makers!  Our dear friend from

Lakeside Ohio was there with a line up of folks eagerly waiting to “make a donation” and receive a big dollop of his very best homemade delicious creamy, icy treat.

One day we drove west on Rt 64 with the intent on re-touring the long touristy island at the west end of the road!   As we traveled west, in the distance we saw yet another dark plume of smoke filling the sky.  Oh no – more sugarcane?  But, wait - we were in orange grove and cattle country!  No – it was a prescribed burn.  As we passed the smoking landscape, the park rangers and firemen where out along the edge – keeping the blowing flames controlled as the fire was removing the dead brush under the tall pine and palm trees!  We detoured to check out a new to us state park – the 550 acre Lake Manatee State Park that sits on 3 miles of the 2400 acre, Lake Manatee Reservoir!  We’ve now added that campground to our list of new places where we want to stay!  Rt 64 runs straight thru Bradenton and out onto Anna Marie Island with all its traffic and beachgoers.  We avoided riding the shuttle bus that runs from one end of the island to the other and drove out to where the

Historic Anna Marie Fishing Pier used to stand with her long legs piercing the aqua waters.  It’s been years since the storm destroyed the old scenic pier but the new pier and restaurant are finally taking shape

WAY back in the woods in the rural area called Ona, is a well kept secret called “Solomon’s Castle”.  Thinking that it was not going to be crowded we chose to go explore.  We were one of the first tours to go thru but by the time we were ready to leave – the parking lot was full!  Howard Soloman was a wiry little man with an

imagination of a wizard!  I would need all the space that H allows me - to just tell you about the man and his shiny silver castle that he built out of throwaways and junk.  He was the original recycler!  Instead – go online and put in: “Solomon’s Castle – Weird US”.  Read for yourself!  You’ll want to come and check it out too!  It’s a HOOT!

We’re putting miles on the truck – besides west as far as we could go, we’ve gone south to Arcadia to get the oil changed in the bright blue truck and ended up strolling along the sidewalks of the historic downtown, lined with multiple antique shops and past the block

long pink and white building – the Rosin Arcade - built in 1926 after a fire destroyed most of downtown.  On the opposite side of the street is the 1906 Opera House and Museum. 

We drove east and then up to Avon Park’s historic downtown area and one day we headed north to Wauchula and Bowling Green to see the Hardee County Park and Campground which has FOUR lakes and shaded camp

sites on another!   Very pretty setting!  Yet another day we again headed for B.G. to check out the Payne’s Creek Historic State Park.  Not impressed with the park or the eroded banks of the ignored creek that runs thru it. Closer to home, Charlie’s Creek with it’s bare rooted trees clinging to the high banks for dear life were much more interesting as the creek meandered towards the Peace River and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Our one week at Cracker Lake turned into three. The coronavirus has hit all the counties west of us – from Collier County in the south, to several counties north of us.  Florida’s Governor and the President have called a State of Emergency.  H has chosen to NOT go out to eat anymore and is even concerned about going thru any fast food drive thru’s.  Definitely no more Walmarts! 

South Bay and Sebring Fl.

Having left the busy traffic of Lake Worth and pointing the nose of the bright blue truck to the west, we retraced or reversed most of our path of several previous trips.   As always - thru sugarcane fields in various stages of growth from fresh plowed black fields with seagulls soaring in circles overhead, scouring for any turned

over rodents for a quick lunch, to waving fields of tasseled grassy growth that would soon be enveloped in massive clouds of black, orange and gray smoke.

South Bay Campground is not new to us –SPFB –Feb 19, 2018, Feb 2. 2016 and Feb 10, 2015!   This far south and this far into winter should not have been as cold or as windy or as wet as this one has been.  And to make matters worse – the steep ramp up to the top of the levee that keeps Lake Okeechobee from spilling onto

Hwy 27, this county park campground and the tiny town that bears that same name – was closed to all traffic.  No one could get to the boat launch on the other side nor could any one wishing to ride their bikes or hike make the trek up the steep drive to the top.  The reconstruction of the levee is still going on after what seems like an eternity instead of a half dozen years or so. On our last visit the huge piles of rock and the large dump trucks that hauled them were farther west, towards Clewiston and we could still ride our trusty bikes towards Torry Island Campground around to the east and 5 miles up to the town of Belle Glade.  This time, our trusty little bikes never left the security of the truck bed.  Instead, it was the bright blue truck that drove up and over the levee at any other available site to check the water level on the other side or to see how far in either direction the repair work was progressing.

Torry Island Campground was full!  And our friends that we had met there on several trips before were not in their usual spot on the corner, right by the channel and under the big sprawling tree!    Up the road in Pahokee, the campground, which is on the INSIDE of

the levee, was also occupied by more big RV’s and motor homes than we had ever seen in the past.  The break wall of the harbor still wrapped around and was protecting another eclectic collection of strange vessels.  Along side one lengthy dock was moored a 195 foot silver barge that looked like it was from Star Wars or some other alien movie.  The Counterpoint II still carries the banner on her side of “American Waterways Wind Orchestra” from her days as a floating concert hall that has traveled around the world!  In the center of the barge is a hydraulic powered steel cover that rises 25

ft in the air to protect the center stage as an overhead canopy and diffuses the sound.  In 2017 there was a bidding war to purchase the vessel to keep it from being dismantled and destroyed.   The bid was won by the town of Pahokee and is now to be used as a center of music education for the local children – including those from Pahokee - one of the poorest communities in Florida.  Go online and enter: “From Pittsburgh to Pahokee Florida” to read more!

Sunday morning arrived and so did the sun!  The temps were finally warming up!  As H was finally getting to visit with our neighbors and I was showing the ladies my “wares” of potholders and other handicrafts, H was approached by the office staff and was advised that his reservations were up but if he wanted to, he could sign up for one more day.  We thought we had till Tuesday in our now warm and sunny site.  After checking his schedule, H realized that she was right and we hurriedly packed and made haste to move to our next reserved spot – in Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring!  Whew!  Good thing we had fixed breakfast already!

In Highlands Hammock we were on the backside of the campground and across the little road was the “hammock” of palmetto bushes, tall skinny palm trees and thin waving pines.  Our site this time was pie shaped and the electric and water were up by the roadway so we parked close to the power supply  - as did the tiny, rough looking OLD 1960’s era trailer with various shades of

faded paint and/or rust.  She also sat at a slight tilt!  We finally got to meet the proud owners of  “Ilean” (get it? Tilt! I lean!) and were given the grand tour of her well done, COMPACT, rebuilt interior in colors of black and white and trimmed in turquoise and peach!  Their goal for her is to take her to ALL of the National Parks and have stickers on her front and back windows to brag about their trips – just like I do with my jacket of many patches! 

Our “to do” list was checked off in good order  - rode our bikes out around the 3 mile, shaded blacktopped road loop.  Still no armadillos!  The walking trail and NARROW boardwalk out thru the swamp and over the quiet, dark patch of water, ladened with water lily leaves was still a must do.  A visit with B&C, just down the road in Lake Placid at their winter home in Camp Florida RV Resort was our top priority since we’d not seen them since last November up home before we each started our separate winter adventures!

If you ask H where he wants to go for lunch in Lake Placid, without hesitation the reply is Mexican – at Casa Tequila Restaurant!  Our plates are always clean when we are done!  We all met at Galati’s Family Restaurant in Sebring the evening before we were to move on.  The pizza is not as good as Buddy’s Pizza up in Dearborn Michigan but it was really good!  None is ever wasted!

Now we’re on to unknown territory.  We’ve never been to Zolfo Springs or the Cracker Lake 55+ RV Resort.  Let’s go see something new!

John Prince Park Palm Beach Area

Sun, Sand and Beaches is what we were hoping for and we got it all!  And a whole lot more – it was hot, muggy and windy too!  Along with bike rides, new friends, huge yachts and odd birds!  Let’s start at the beginning!

Palm Beach County has some of the prettiest beaches on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean.   To the north, we visited our favorite beaches as far as Juno Beach and even Jupiter Beach and the peaceful Dubois Park, right on the Jupiter Inlet. SPFB-for Jan 10, 2019 and Feb 23, 2018!!    Blue is my favorite color and the deep blue water that flowed outwards from the cement walls and boulder barriers that lined the inlet did not disappoint as it reflected the blue shades of the blue sky above. A visit to the beaches in that area also calls for a stop at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.  The large “swimming pool” enclosures, each with its own “picture window” still held individual sea turtles and listed their name and reason for being there. 

To the south, the Ocean Reef Park, at Boynton Inlet is another favorite with its tree-lined parking spaces and wide fishing walls and jetties that stretch out into the deep blue ocean.  When the tide is in a hurry to get out to the ocean, the incoming white capped foaming waves crash into the outgoing current!  Boats must still run the gauntlet to escape!   When the waves are really rolling, the biggest ones, on the far side of the jetty, get ridden by surfers trying to see how close to the shore they can ride!

As in the northern end of the county, the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center down near Boca Raton also has big blue tubs with the large picture windows to see the injured sea creature inside.  Smaller aquariums hold other tinier sea creatures like my favorite seahorses!

Downtown West Palm Beach held an Antique/Farmers Market one sunny Saturday and we found a shady parking spot a block away and strolled thru the booths and vendors for 4 blocks till we reached the grassy park and Lakeshore drive that lined the waterway that divides the rich West Palm Beach from the even richer Palm Beach out on the barrier island.  In the WPB harbor were more than just a few mega yachts that rested their 150 lengths at the gated docks! One mammoth white beauty is up for sale and can be rented for $180,000 PLUS for a week!  The landing craft for that dark blue sailing/motor-yacht was bigger than any of the boats H ever owned!

Back in John Prince Park, we enjoyed the water view out our back and side windows and the collection of shore birds that visited!  While the pythons multiply in the Everglades, this park’s invasive specie is STILL the Iguana!  This big guy came to visit most everyday!  One day there were TWELVE that lazed around our “backyard”!  While this 4 ft long lizard was one of the biggest, the rest ranged from bright green foot long ones to the bigger darker green/gray guys.   On our bike rides we saw all the usual Herons and Roseate Spoonbills and Limpkins, scratching and catching small crustaceans for lunch! There was even this odd pair of large “ducks” which actually turned out to be a pair of Egyptian Geese!

 Our bike rides ALWAYS involved wind.  We did manage to ride the 5 miles of blacktopped bike trails thru the 378 acre park several times - past the almost 100 tents of the homeless that are, for now, living in the park, and over the several wooden bridges and around all the canals and lagoons.  Once, we did follow the winding pathway around the northern end of Lake Osborne, past the children’s water park, the boat docks and several more small bridges to the eastern side of the long, odd shaped busy lake – sometimes WITH the wind and sometimes INTO the wind.   Although the eastern side of the lake went past a residential neighborhood, there was still the tree lined walking and biking trail that followed the waters edge with plenty of resting areas and good views of the sprawling John Prince Park on the opposite side.  In the photo – look just over the left end of the small island and find the dark green round shrub.  That is our “tan train” just to the left of it.  10 miles from the start of our ride at our campsite, with the assistance of the long lasting batteries of our trusty electric bikes, we powered around the lake, up Lantana Road on the wide sidewalk that took us up and over the lake below; past the

collection of white buildings at the Palm Beach County Airport; past all the airports runways seen from Congress Ave and FINALLY back into the comfort of John Prince!

We were in John Prince for 2 weeks and the two sites on either side always had folks in transit - folks from as far away as Wisconsin or even Quebec. New friends made and “cards” exchanged!  They were mid sized motorhomes, custom vans or trailers.   The first neighbor tho, was an elderly Winnebago that had been painted with flat white house paint and trimmed in bright turquoise and green.  The front bumper was cardboard painted black!  Thru out our stay, we saw it had moved to a different site every few days!

Our Sun, Sand and Surf days have come to a close.  It’s time to head west.  It’ll be a long journey - - out of the big cities and 50 miles across the sugarcane fields to Lake Okeechobee and South Bay Campground.

Mosspark Orlando area

Moss Park!  We’re Home!!   Or are we?  The camp roads are the same white grit packed, yet potholed, sand roads; the campsites are still spacious and sheltered by tall Slash Pines and Live Oaks; and the bathhouses are still tiled and clean.  Yet, it’s different. 

Something is missing.  George isn’t here on his site.  We weren’t greeted by begging, squawking Sandhill Cranes.  I looked ALL week and never saw an Armadillo, a Sherman Squirrel or any turkeys!  George was the park’s resident photographer/wildlife expert and was one of the reason’s we came here and always parked next to him.  As we all get older, health becomes an issue and now he stays up in New York close to family.  A lot of us miss you George!

Two deer did come wandering thru our site the first morning we were here but there were only 2 and not the half dozen that used to mosey thru each morning AND each evening. Each time we rode the bikes or drove out in the truck, my eyes searched the wooded areas along the roadway for any gray rocks or tan clumps of dead grass that would move and finally look like the armor of a armadillo.  No reverberating Jurassic Park squawks from the handful of mated cranes – just one pair that only called out on occasion. But one evening they did call out from somewhere in the swamp grass behind site #29 – were they nesting out where they used to?

The tiny songbirds were much more friendly!  One afternoon while I was sitting at the picnic table with the sewing machine busily

buzzing away and H was nestled in his lounge chair with his tablet in hand, a tiny yellowish bird came to see if there were any tasty morsels to pick up from the table area.  It’s tail bobbed the entire time it was there!  Soon a matching bird in shades more of tan with soft stripes on her tummy joined him.  My Audubon Book confirmed that they were Palm Warblers!  The crust from our loaf of wheat bread kept them happily gobbling up crumbs.  A pair of shy Cardinals even joined in on the banquet!  The Fox Squirrels got shooed away.  Now – if they had been Sherman’s . . . . . . .

SPFB!  We’ve already done the Disney “thing” –including riding the transportation means from one resort complex to the next, Downtown Disney, Disney Springs, and even Disney itself. We’ve seen downtown, the Orlando Eye (the huge ferris wheel) and beautiful Lake Eola that is featured as the backdrop on every evening news program.  We’ve played tourist up and down the road from St Cloud to Kissimmee to Celebration and back.  This time we visited Old Town that is a remake of a fake old town, but is just a collection of quirky restaurants and over priced shops.  Right

behind it is Fun Spot - the amusement park with its bungee rides and roller coasters.  It was a cold windy morning so no one was there yet.

One evening, H had his nose in his Nook Tablet and I was in the bedroom, on the phone, when a persistent knocking came at the door.  It was friends that we had met at Trimble Park a few years ago - during the tornado warnings while we sheltered in the bathhouse!!!  They had just arrived in Moss Park and had read our blog saying that we were headed there/here!  While out for their evening walk they spotted the bright blue truck and came to call!!  What a treat!  We reestablished our friendship and shared travel stories during the rest of our stay as neighbors!  They even joined us for our last visit to the Catfish Place for lunch the day before we were to leave.  Cheryl and I both love to take photos.  Don and H looked like bookends as they stood with their backs to us, hands in pockets, discussing Jeeps, Ford trucks and all the other problems of the world!!

Titusville had the rocket launches; Mt Dora had the seaplanes; here in Moss Park in SE Orlando we are within 5 miles of the Orlando International Airport which brings visitors from all over the world to visit the theme parks, and this year the Super Bowl!!   The sleek beauties in the sky above circle the airport and when they are up over the campground, line up with the landing strip out in front of them and then slow their powerful engines in order to lower their massive crafts - like hotrods downshifting - whining and then rumbling, deeper and deeper - until the aircraft’s sleek bodies touch down on the solid land once more.  Sometimes this would happen every few minutes – as soon as one plane would land; yet another was in line to slow and drop gently out of the sky. 

Our week of doing almost nothing has come and gone.  It’s time to head out again.  The weather has been cool and we are heading farther south – Lake Worth – south of all the “Palm Beaches” and north of Del Ray Beach.

Sun – Sand and Beaches is what we are hoping for.

Trimble Park Mt Dora Fl.

The ocean is behind us – we’ve headed west, going inland to another collection of beautiful bodies of water – calm, fresh water lakes bordered by cattails, palmetto, palms and pines!  Lake County Florida is famous for it’s chains of lakes!  Here it is: SPFB – See Previous Florida Blogs!  And – if you want to see our photos better – click on them once to enlarge!

Lake Beauclair

Trimble Park Campground is on the very northern edge of Orange County and occupies the peninsula between two of those beautiful

lake Carleton

lakes - Lake Beauclair and Lake Carleton.  These lakes are joined to Lake Dora and several more lakes by canals or rivers!  One year we put H’s portaboat in Lake Dora and followed the Dora Canal thru to Eustis Lake and one winter we flew in the DeHaviland Beaver seaplane - up and over ALL of the lakes below!  That was a thrill to remember!!  The sound of that low rumbling engine would always signal when the “Beaver” was about to fly over the park!  Check the blog for Feb 3, 2016 and also March 8, 2015.

That neat old plane no longer comes from Minnesota each winter to fly out of Mt Dora.  In nearby Tavares, The Seaplane Capitol – seaplanes are still buzzing overhead or plowing thru the water trying to gain speed and then altitude!   The day we visited the lakeside park in downtown Tavares, we paused to enjoy the

sunshine and watch one of the planes for hire, load it’s passengers and then slowly wheel down the boat ramp, into the water until the mounted wheels were

submerged and the sturdy craft was afloat on it’s large pontoons.  The spinning prop, balanced on the tip of its nose, propelled it down the waterfront to turn and then charge back up the lake till it finally lifted itself up out of the water and climbed higher into the blue sky.  Twenty minutes later it floated down out of the sky and slowly returned to the boat ramp.  Reviving its engine, it slowly climbed the steep incline back to dry land.

Apopka Lake is still polluted.  The North Apopka Lake Trail is still open each weekend.  The day was sunny and almost warm when we chose to drive along the 11 miles of one lane, one way gravel road - out and thru the 20,000 acres of farmland returned to wetland area.  The speed limit was 10mph but H has trouble going that slow – especially when someone in front of him would stop in the middle to take pictures of yet another black lump of gator.  “How many pictures of gators do you need?” - was his normal query.  I managed to snap ONE more picture!!  Flocks of various ducks,

including these Blue Winged Teal – were everywhere - along with Coots, Gallinule, Blue Heron, Egrets, Ibis, Hawks and Osprey!

Since Lake Carlton was only 20 feet from our big back window we also enjoyed the usual plethora of God’s winged creatures.   Each day the group (flock) of swamp chickens (Ibis) paraded up and down the shoreline with their long curved beaks skimming the water looking for tidbits to snack on.  Blue Heron, Egret and a little Tri-colored Heron took their turns too!  

Each time we are fortunate enough to stay in Trimble Park, the sound of the resident owls greeted us – every day and every night!  “Who-cooks-for you? Who-cooks for you” was heard and the

responding “Who-whoo” would come back, but the ones calling out were never seen!  On this visit, H was sitting outside, catching some sun, and called me to come out – the owl was sitting up in the tree that arched over our neighbors trailer!  As I snapped picture after picture – the Barred Owl above us just watched as I walked around his perch high in the tall live oak.

Yes – we have eaten well – seafood at The Catfish Place in Apopka is always on the “to do” list.  Capt D’s in Winter Garden and The Whales Tail in Eustis.  We even snuck in a Pizza Hut once!!   We’ve been to the big flea market on the 441 bypass of Mt Dora but the only thing H got there is a bad cold!  NOT GOOD.

H has gotten to fly his drone while in Trimble Park.  While we

waited to be allowed to park on our campsite he flew it up high over the tall live oaks at the picnic area. He also flew it up and out over Lake Carleton later in the week.  It looks like he was buzzing close over those two kayakers  - but they were our neighbors!!

We’ve been blessed by making more new friends at each campground where we have stayed.  In Manatee Hammock, our new friends were Sandy and Bill.  Here in Trimble Park it was Fred and Jean from Minnesota. The four of us seem to have a LOT in common – from boating to biking and camping!  Too bad F’s bike of choice has the initials HD!  We like him anyway!!

Our eight days at our FAVORITE Trimble Park are complete and it’s time to move on.   We’re moving to another FAVORITE Orange County Park –Moss Park.   This reservation had to be in my name because if we used H’s name it would put us over the 2-week (14 days) limit stay in the Orange County parks.  We need eight days more!  Do the math - - 8 days at Trimble +8 days at Moss = 16.